Man arrested after allegedly injecting food with syringes in London supermarkets

A man has been arrested on suspicion of contaminating food with a syringe at three supermarkets in west London, a council has said.

Hammersmith & Fulham Council said officers were called at just before 8pm after a man was reported to be shouting abuse at people in the street.

Metropolitan Police later said in a statement the man was alleged to have “injected foodstuffs with a number of needles” at the Tesco Express at 168-188 Fulham Palace Road, the Little Waitrose at 201-207 Fulham Palace Road, and the Sainsbury’s Local at 179-183 Fulham Palace Road.

The man has been taken into police custody accused of trying to cause public harm or anxiety.

The supermarkets have been closed and crime scenes are in place.

Which items were affected?

The affected items are believed to be processed meat and microwaveable products, according to the council.

It is currently unknown how many items have been contaminated, or with what substance.

Police alert

Hammersmith and Fulham Council issued an “emergency alert” notice on its social media accounts on Wednesday evening.

It said: “Members of the public are advised as a precaution to dispose of any food items bought from these supermarkets this evening.

“H&F Council’s Environmental Health team are now working with the supermarket branches affected.”

A message from the editor:

Thank you for reading. NationalWorld is a new national news brand, produced by a team of journalists, editors, video producers and designers who live and work across the UK. Find out more about who’s who in the team, and our editorial values. We want to start a community among our readers, so please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and keep the conversation going. You can also sign up to our newsletters and get a curated selection of our best reads to your inbox every day.